Food Network Magazine - (12)December 2020

e can think of plenty of reasons to gather with family this

time of year, but the best one might be simply having the

extra sets of hands for tamale-making. Tamales have long

been associated with the holidays—they’re often part of the Mexican

celebration of Las Posadas, commemorating Mary and Joseph’s

search for shelter before Jesus’s birth—but the tradition of eating

them has become more than just a religious practice. Tamales are

a way to reconnect with family and Latinx heritage, and this starts

with the big job of making them. Tamales can be labor intensive,

so why not get the whole family involved and host a tamalada?

If enough people are making and filling the masa and wrapping the

bundles, you can crank out dozens of tamales at a time. Try a few

batches this year using this recipe from Pauline Pimienta, co-owner

of The Tamale Store in Phoenix. Her family’s red-chile tamales are

so beloved, customers start placing their holiday orders in August!

—Nora Horvath

For many Latinx families, it’s not

Christmas without tamales.

on the road

The Tamale Store

(thetamalestore.com)

sells 5,000

handmade tamales

every day in

December!

Pauline Pimienta (right)

with her mom, Martha

Castillo (center), and

sister Maria Stanzak

176 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●DECEMBER 2020

TAMALES, PHOTO: RALPH SMITH; FOOD STYLING: TYNA HOANG; PROP STYLING: STEPHANIE YEH. PORTRAIT: PATRICK BREEN/USA TODAY NETWORK.

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